Yes, Marc is completely correct here, it's all down to the sense of balance. Walking on anything other than solid (unyielding) ground triggers the body to compensate (balance reflex). Walking on a beach with soft sand is similar. When walking on anything other than a solid surface, it's a natural reaction to put your arms out to spread your weight.

What are those tripod thingies with camera thingies with people in fluorescent jacket thingies manning them? Seems to be some sort of survey equipment but what is it used for? They've had them manned every morning for about a month next to a road I pass on my commute and I'm too scared to ask one of the fluorescent jacketers.

What are those tripod thingies with camera thingies with people in fluorescent jacket thingies manning them? Seems to be some sort of survey equipment but what is it used for? They've had them manned every morning for about a month next to a road I pass on my commute and I'm too scared to ask one of the fluorescent jacketers.

They're doing surveying stuff (especially in built-up areas) for future building work, or more usually for roadworks. The camera/tripod combination is called a "total station" and it measure distances and angles as well as taking pictures. This is done with lasers and so can be accurate over quite long distances (as long as the equipment is calibrated correctly). Basically they're theodolites, but more versatile.

It's definitely a thing Mark. Ignore Gevin, who only ever leaves the comfort of his bed with running shoes on.

It's almost more related to the way you are trying to "creep" with your legs, and that typical learnt-it-from-the-TV exaggerated creep necessarily involves exaggerated arms too.

So a couple of nights ago I walked to the car to get something at stupid o'clock, and didn't think it needed shoes. But it turns out the road was a bit more painful than I thought, and I started the exaggerate arms thing. And then I realised I was doing it. So I tried to stop doing it. But I couldn't. Y'know? So is this learnt or is it actually functional?

Eoin Monaghan wrote:
He may not be liked on here, but you have to give some credit to Mark

Well, the trouble with trying to stop it is that you're naturally going to go to the other extreme I reckon - the one Marc mentioned, arms by your side and not moving at all, right? That's even less natural, our arms don't do that when we're doing a normal walk with normal shoes on normal ground without thinking about it. Trouble is it's not so easy to consciously force yourself to do something typically subconscious.

But yeah Jim has already done it I think in vaguely scientific terms - I don't think it's learnt in that it's probably a pretty natural feeling to do so (you could probably find similarities in the differing walks of animals) and from that I'd only assume it is actually functional (although "learnt" and "functional" are not necessarily mutually exclusive, there must be plenty of examples of reflex actions we take subconsciously that don't really help us).

After further reflection I'm wondering if it is an anticipation of danger/pain rather than a pure reflex reaction.
For example if Mark was going to his car in broad daylight and could see his path would he do the arms thing

I often go to Gran Canaria for a holiday and do a lot of walking and one of the ones that goes through los Paloma's involves walking about a mile over large pebbles and stones and I'm sure I didn't do the arms thing for the whole of that walk

I think you're right about both parts really - it's still a reflex action in response to the feel of the first footstep (that's another point we haven't discussed, I don't think the arms are ever likely to come out for balance until after step 1, right?). But yes it is also pain anticipation - but this anticipation is not (in this instance) from walking into objects you didn't know were there, more from the potential for the next footstep to be painful, in that respect the light/dark makes no difference really.

When I walk around in the proper dark (where I am not worried about the general state of the ground, but am conscious of treading on a thing) I tend to do more shuffly movements with the feet and hold my hands out in front of me to feel my way.

Not sure if this belongs here or the dream thread but I genuinely had a dream last night where I was walking over gravel in my bare feet. It was slightly sore but manageable and I noted to myself in the dream that my arms weren't doing anything they wouldn't normally do and I wondered what the hell it was yis were talking about. I don't doubt that it's a thing really just that it's not something I've ever noticed.